Three Almosts
by hiddenmoments
Summary: Three times they almost make it. Three times they nearly end the nightmare and three times they are only almost successful. Colby, Liz, Nikki, David, Billy with some Charlie. Three parts post Times Two and Weak Kneed.
1. Chapter 1

_**Still not mine, but I can't really say that's a surprise considering what I do to them when I have custody. **_

_i._

After the questioning, their first solid lead takes another six days to get and they haven't seen their own homes in over a week. Some kind of invisible tether that binds the four of them together won't allow them to leave each other's sight for longer than it takes to go to the bathroom. Not one of them has tried to break it because it might just be the only thing holding their world together now.

They spend that first week in the war room, trying, hoping, praying, never ceasing to try and break through the haze of uncertainty. Their leads wrung dry and handed to the prosecutors, Colby and Liz pick Billy Cooper up from LAX and try and piece together the shattered fragments even as they hunt down every possible cause for the implosion.

Mornings, afternoons, nights, nearly every waking moment is spent at the office, but whatever sleep they get is curled together like a litter of newborn puppies in the garage at the Craftsman. They doze as Alan watches with weary eyes while Charlie breaks before his chalkboards and Liz blames herself for relenting in regards to his involvement.

Billy Cooper stares at the sky from the doorway or window because he might be there but without Don, he doesn't belong.

Their days and nights pass in a haze, a frenzy, running on adrenaline and coffee, surrounded by files and tips phoned in by citizens claiming to have seen the van from the abduction.

On day ten, LAPD officers on a tip find the van abandoned near the coast, giving them partial prints, some drops of blood and a rag soaked in chloroform.

David's phone is the one that rings when forensics call to tell them that the blood matches Don and Ian. It is impossible to feel relief even though the department dregs up what little positivity they can at the first physical evidence as they try to match the partials to their dishearteningly staggering suspect list.

Their lives revolve around the war room and the garage. Alan's eyes are wearier and there are boards in the corner that are covered in P vs. NP. Billy remembers Don's weary explanation of those dark days before Margaret's passing and it makes him irrationally angry enough to remove himself back to the FBI offices.

Amita and Larry help them try and narrow the tips down but not even the CIs they hunt down can tell them who is behind the setup.

No one on the streets is taking credit and they are beginning to fear the worst.

A kidnapper without ransom demands is the worst kind, one of the other agents says quietly as the second week wanes and the circles under everyone's eyes grow darker and larger. Colby, Liz and David pretend they don't hear the comment but Nikki's hand spasms around the cup of coffee halfway to her mouth. She and Liz spend seven minutes in the bathroom with a spare blouse and if their eyes are a little bloodshot when they leave, no one mentions anything.

It's a Tuesday morning, day thirteen, when a tech skids into the bullpen shouting that there's a man on the phone who has Ian's badge, Don's wallet and the waterlogged remains of a cell. Someone shouts to put it through. Seconds later, the phone rings and Assistant Director Wright answers.

The techs begin establishing a trace on the signal while Nikki's back hits David's chest and Colby's fingers wrap briefly around Liz's.

SWAT is rolling the second the techs get a lock and the moments it takes them to get down to the carpark are enough for hope to light in their hearts.

_ii._

They arrive to find the quivering, bumbling man who had called them waiting. He breaks down at the sight of the armoured vehicles and firearms and cries that he'd found them in a storm drain just outside an abandoned building and he'll take them there, he promises.

Vests and glasses and backup weapons are donned and David takes point. The building is small enough that there is cover at every exit.

Agent Tim King and his team break down the door and screams pierce the air as throngs of children scramble for the exits only to find them blocked by armed agents in Kevlar with a uniform, unforgiving fury in their faces. It softens only a little as the children immediately respond to the big yellow and white letters offering salvation.

A small girl skids to a stop just in time to avoid Colby's knees. He crouches and smiles as best he can manage while he tells her that his name is Colby and she's going to be alright now. The resulting suspicion is expected so he asks her very slowly, very quietly whether she can help him find his friends?

Her nose wrinkles a little and she asks him that isn't he tall enough to be able to see them?

His chuckle makes her smile so he takes a deep breath and tries not to panic as he asks if she knows where the people who took her are because he's seen people smuggling rings before and it hurts just a little more when it is innocent children but it hurts a lot more when he knows that somewhere, the same people have Don and Ian who aren't going to cooperate or go peacefully into whatever awaits them.

Large brown eyes with rings under them that rival his own widen in understanding and she hesitates only briefly before crouching down and patting the floor. Her hand is white and frail against the dusty floor. Colby scoops her into his arms and hands her to Liz then takes off towards King at a dead sprint.

_iii._

It takes them a long time, too long, to find their way into the tunnels. They run an easy half a mile out from the building and come out in an abandoned lot. The fading smell of burning rubber stings their nostrils almost as bad as the knowledge of failure burns in their guts.

Tim King steers them into a room set deep into the corner of one of the tunnels. He folds the badge into Nikki's hand, the wallet into Colby's and the phone into Liz's. His hand descends on David's shoulder, squeezing briefly, as he says quietly that forensics have taken photos and swabs and that they can have a few minutes in there if they like.

The air is stale and heavy with the scent of bile. The dried pools of vomit don't contain much in the way of actual substance and somehow, the idea that they're being starved as well makes it that much more unbearable. Blood spatters decorate the floor and there is a shackle against the wall.

Liz's fingers cling so tight that they might tear through his shirt but even as her cheeks dampen his chest, Colby's own grief does the same to her hair. Nikki's nails dig into David's biceps as she turns her face into his shoulder and quivers. His arm comes around her shoulders as he wonders where they go from here.

* * *

_**This entire part was based around Colby in full tac gear, kneeling in front of a little girl and asking her to help him find his friends. I wrote that bit first and then worked outwards because the image would not leave my head, still won't, and then it wasn't far from there to imagine the four of them standing in the same room that played a huge part in breaking Don and Ian. I hope you're all still enjoying this even though I'm probably going to be damned for eternity for torturing them all so badly.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**(Just a not so quiet shout-out to all you incredible reviewers who make writing this an absolute joy. So much love to you!)**

Part II

_i._

The second time, they have more information.

Shortly after six am on day nineteen, Billy Cooper sweeps into the bullpen with Charlie in tow. Nikki is in the break room, pouring coffee while David hovers in the hallway with one eye on her and the other on Colby and Liz.

Billy directs a meek, vague looking Charlie to the war room and motions with his head for the others to follow. They do so without question because there's very little left of their traditional command structure and Billy is somehow the closest thing they have to Don.

He sits them down and pins a photo to the board. A grainy surveillance photo of a man with a hat pulled low over his eyes. Angelo Barinelli, he says with a bite in his voice that makes David sit up a little straighter.

An Italian kingpin under suspicion for people trafficking for years, Billy explains. Their main business was your typical mob deal, drugs, arms, stolen goods, money laundering. Organisations all over the world have been trying to link him to the resurgence of people trafficking with little luck. Fifteen years ago, he relocated to the States.

Billy's eyes flash as he pins four more pictures to the board. Two mugshots line up with two shots of bodies with clusters of three rounds, centre mass. Fugitive Recovery days, his voice cracks like a whip. A protégé and a favoured henchman who refused to come quietly after a twelve day chase. They'd held Billy at gunpoint and Don had done all he could in the circumstances.

They'd never been linked to Barinelli, not before Billy's sudden realisation and Charlie's math, but now they were.

Nikki calmly asks whether it involves Ian at all or whether he was just unlucky.

Charlie speaks for the first time. They don't know, but they intend to find out.

_ii._

They get a hit two days later when Narcotics drag a high level distributor carrying some serious firepower in. A flag goes up in processing and Violent Crimes descends like a pack of wolves, all flaming, flashing eyes and glinting teeth.

Colby remembers Don and Ian during the Buck Winters and Crystal Hoyle fiasco and he remembers the all-consuming fury during his own dance with the devil. This burn, agony, this indescribable madness has had nearly three weeks to smoulder and he sees it in the set of Liz's jaw, the almost imperceptible twitch in David's cheek, the rigid line of Nikki's stance, the ice of Billy's eyes.

David watches from the observation room while Nikki paces behind him.

Billy leans close, face mere inches from the man's, and breathes out, almost a hiss, that the man's boss has something of theirs, something that they'd very much like back.

The man tilts his head back, arrogance in the long line of his neck, and informs Billy dryly that his boss isn't in the habit of sharing well and that whatever he has will more than likely remain his.

Hands flatten against the table as Colby pushes himself up and closer, commenting that the man obviously doesn't know what is good for him.

Liz's hips sway just enough to draw his attention away from Colby as she rises, methodically closing the blinds on every wall of the room before settling on the edge of the table, all feral grace and flashing eyes.

His fingers begin tapping a staccato rhythm on the table as his eyes remain on Liz. Billy's teeth gleam as he smiles and rises, spinning the chair and settling into it again, arms draped over the back and fingers tapping against the plastic in mocking mimicry.

Charlie's voice from behind him startles David, who whirls around as the mathematician quietly asks how they plan on getting information from someone so obviously trained to handle interrogation.

David offers a smile and nods at Nikki before turning his eyes back to the screen. She places her hand on Charlie's shoulder and leans close to his ear, whispering that she doesn't think it matters how much training he's had, with Billy, Colby and Liz working him over like they plan to, he'll be lucky to escape with all his body parts attached and functioning.

Charlie's smile doesn't reach his eyes, but he sits down a seat over from David and watches the screen as the toe of Liz's right boot takes up the same rhythm against the leg of the table.

There is no response as Colby asks whether he's going to tell them what they want to know, and the ex-soldier's fingers take up the symphony of tapping seamlessly, eyes not leaving the man's face.

Nikki comments wryly that she thinks they had different interrogation instructors than she did. David chuckles and the sound brightens the observation room just a little as Charlie asks curiously whether they really think he's going to talk.

His answer is given a moment later as both agents lean closer to the screen with satisfaction settling over their faces and a hope that hadn't been there before as Charlie realises that the vein throbbing in the man's forehead certainly suggests so.

_iii_.

When Billy and Colby leave the room, Liz's fingers are still closed around the man's wrist as her eyes bore into his. She lets his arm drop to the table a moment later before leaving the room.

The man is hunched in his seat, sweat beading his face. The satisfaction burns in their stomachs as David asks whether they're sure they got it all.

Billy's lips quirk up at the corners and Liz nods. Satisfaction brightens Colby's eyes for just a moment as he says that if the man knew any more, he would have told them.

Dispatch has SWAT preparing to roll as ten agents take the stairs down to the carpark.

They'll be heavily armed, Liz warns as she and Nikki tighten their Kevlar vests and pile into the backseat of the SUV. They've been especially careful since the hit at the last place and the loss of so much 'merchandise'. She almost snarls the word.

Billy makes sure to brief the SWAT team when they arrive and arrange themselves around the building.

Gunfire comes over the radios, deafening as the real life echo sounds nearby and everyone erupts into action. The door folds under the battering ram and they flood into and around the building, shouts and orders blending with the gunfire in an indistinguishable cacophony.

At the same time, Colby and David recognise a man from the hierarchy they'd pieced together on a board in the war room. David hesitates for just a second but Colby doesn't, tackling the man down and to the ground.

There are shouts over the radios that they have fleeing vehicles on the east and south sides, suspected hostages and two agents down. Billy disappears around the corner and out the doors with a SWAT agent on his heels.

Colby hustles the man to his feet, barking orders and launching them towards the east side of the warehouse as agents take the last stragglers into custody. David runs after his partner as Liz and Nikki bring up the rear.

Tim King is bellowing into his radio about roadblocks and ambulances as they reach the east side and pause just for a split second to take in the carnage. One vehicle has rolled and burst into flame against the darkening sky and there are fresh skidmarks leading towards the freeway. A vehicle, one of theirs, screeches past in the same direction.

Two agents are propped against the side of another car with slashed tyres, one panting for breath with three rounds in the vest and another bleeding from the thigh.

Grabbing the still-dazed man from Colby, Billy's fists close around his collar and slam him up against the wall of the building. The man trembles, eyes wide, and Billy roars in his face.

* * *

_**The lion is certainly **_**not**_** sleeping tonight. For someone I didn't intend to involve too much in the initial plan, he is carving out a pretty important role for himself (I hope I do justice to all of you who wanted him involved in your reviews). This part built itself around the scene with Billy, Colby and Liz in the interrogation room. Those three are rapidly becoming a force to reckon with, and possibly a minor obsession. Don and Ian are very lucky to have them fighting on their behalf.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III**

_i._

The third time is by far the closest.

There is nothing subtle or hesitant about their questioning of the six men taken during the last attempt. Day twenty two is the first time the team separates for longer than a bathroom break as they each barricade themselves in a dim interrogation room, Billy taking the man Colby had tackled and Tim King readily agreeing to take on the last.

The SWAT agent sticks his head out after ten minutes, fury written in every inch of his body as he asks someone to bring some smelling salts into the room.

Nikki is the next to emerge, twenty three minutes later with pale, drawn features. She retreats to the bathroom. Two stone-faced male agents enter the interrogation room and draw the blinds even tighter.

David is third, thunderclouds in his eyes. The door slams behind him and his phone is at his ear as he leaves the bullpen.

Colby is fourth, jaw set rigidly as he adds two more names to the board and settles into his cubicle where the printer begins whirring almost instantly.

Tim King leaves the interrogation room with vague sense of satisfaction as he reaches Colby's cubicle, scrawling something on a notepad and passing it to the other man before cracking his knuckles and settling into a vacant chair.

When Liz leaves, she doesn't even make eye contact with anyone and goes straight for the bathroom.

Billy is the last, nearly an hour and a half later. His hands are clenched into fists and he makes for the war room with barely a glance towards the others who have congregated, waiting.

They follow anyway.

_ii._

Billy's hand shakes just a little as he pins the map to the board and reaches for a marker.

His voice is low and steady when he says that they were right, that it is Barinelli. The breath he takes before he continues is long and deep. At least three dozen locations that they could have fled to, he explains, and they will not be taken by surprise again.

The good news is that Don and Ian were both alive as recently as eight hours ago and from what he understands, Barinelli certainly doesn't want them dead immediately.

He is going to get Charlie to work on narrowing the locations down, he says, and they are going to raid them relentlessly until they get what they're after. His eyes flash as he adds quietly that there are many things the man deserves and he doesn't think prison even comes close anymore.

Amita, Charlie and Larry have the list down to fourteen locations in ten hours and at eight am on day twenty three, the raids commence.

Seven days later, all fourteen locations have been hit and they've recovered millions of dollars worth of arms and narcotics but they are no closer to finding Don and Ian. Hope is flagging and Charlie can't understand _where _they went wrong. Everything points to it being one of those fourteen locations.

On day twenty five, ADIC Wright is in the bullpen and he pulls Billy and David aside and asks quietly if maybe they've overestimated Barinelli's desire to hide what he's doing.

The two agents share a glance heavy with sudden realisation.

Three hours later, raids on the other locations begin.

On day thirty, they hit it.

_iii_.

A warehouse in the industrial district. Billy can do nothing but laugh, without the slightest trace of humour, at the man's audacity.

They breach the warehouse from weak spots in the roof and catch _sight _of Don and Ian for the first time in over four weeks. David claps his hand over Nikki's mouth as her breathing hitches

All hell breaks loose barely thirty seconds later as SWAT agents hit the ground in the middle of the warehouse, break through the doors and come flying down the stairs.

Sudden clouds of tear gas overtake the air. There is shouting and gunfire and Liz is thrown to her feet as a round impacts her vest. She can't see the faces of the agent who drags her from the warehouse but she screams Don's name and struggles mightily against the strong arms hauling her to safety when she hears a guttural cry that she knows is him.

The agent holding her crumples and she breaks free of his arms, scrambling towards the cry and calling out again. A hand swipes across the air just in front of her and as it falls past, she lunges for it even as she gasps for breath, lungs trying desperately to function under the dual assault.

The fingers brush hers and then another arm wraps itself around her chest, dragging her to her feet and towards an exit. Tim King's voice is in her ear and she slumps against him as darkness invades the edges of her vision.

She hears Billy and Colby nearby and all she can do is hope that they get to Don and Ian because she can't.

_iv._

Billy is so close that he can see the familiar scar on the left side of his best friend's mouth and he's even closer to Ian who is struggling weakly against the men carrying him, bloodshot eyes desperate.

Colby is gaining as well, barely ahead of him, and with a single purpose, the two leap forward with arms outstretched.

His fingers hook into the waist of Don's jeans as Colby's scrabble for grip on Ian's arm. He sees Colby go down and pulls back with every ounce of strength in his body as urgency floods his mind. He feels the fabric of the belt loop come free against his grip and then his world is dark as his skull erupts with agony.

* * *

_**I AM A HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PERSON. I KNOW.**_

_**I do love them, I swear. You'll see Part III again in the next instalment, **__Four Escapes__**, from the other side. I think I enjoyed writing this one a little too much, for what that's worth, but another piece of the puzzle is completed. I've discovered a deeper appreciation for Coop especially, and how he works with Colby and Liz. I do love David and Nikki, but David's still trying not to stray too far from what he knows and this situation calls for more unorthodox measures. Poor Nikki struggles a little, but she's doing the best she can.**_


End file.
